1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to ultrasonic medical instrumentation, and more particularly, to an ultrasonic probe for attachment to one or more fingers of a person.
2. Prior Art
Ultrasonic instruments are well known in the medical arts. Such instrumentation may be used to make lesions in tissue, but are also used to cut and coagulate tissue and blood, respectively. Typically, ultrasonic instrumentation have an ultrasonic transducer at a working end of the instrument, which is typically separated from a handle or other manipulation means by an elongated shaft.
In certain medical procedures, such as a MAZE procedure, lesions are made on the heart in a specific pattern. Often, the lesions are to be made on tissue that is hard to reach with conventional instrumentation or where visibility is poor. Thus, there is a need in the medical arts for a device and methods for easily manipulating the ultrasonic transducer, for accessing hard to reach areas, and which increase the visibility of surgical sites.